How to Wear Those Suspicious-Looking "Midi-Pants"

During a recent editorial meeting, the Glamour digital team and I had a pretty passionate discussion. It went on for over 15 minutes, and it was accompanied by a lot of gesturing, eye rolling, and sighing. The topic at hand? Gaucho pants.

Let's be clear: We weren't discussing whether or not we liked them. We were all pretty much in agreement about that. (For the record, we are fans.) We were discussing something much more fundamental: the fact that these pants suffer from terrible PR.

For starters, the name gaucho is all wrong—and not because it reminds people of the original cropped-pants wearers: Argentine cowboys. Pretty sure nobody's thinking about those guys when they're shopping for fall clothes. Nope, the word gaucho is all wrong because it reminds everyone of the horrible, flimsy monstrosities with the roll-down waistbands from a couple of years back.

So, how about we all agree to call these new pants something else? Yeah, I know; you're probably thinking we should just settle on culottes and call it a day. But come on. That's not really any better and you know it. The word skort? Sounds like something you do with a neti pot. Gross.

I'm campaigning, instead, for "midi-pants." Not very poetic, but hear me out. We all like midiskirts, right? Can't get enough of 'em. Interestingly, according to the great and powerful Oz (a.k.a. Google), the term "midiskirt" was hardly searched before 2011. So what did we call longish skirts instead? Probably something dowdy and lame like "calf-length." Bad PR.

Semantics aside, there's no getting around the fact that wide, cropped pants are having a moment. For pre-fall (another term that didn't exist until recently!), designers like Proenza Schouler, Alexander Wang, Tory Burch, and Derek Lam offered them up in substantial fabrics and crisp cuts—nothing flimsy or stretchy here. Think of this season's midi-pants as midi skirts cooler, tomboy cousins.

At first glance they may seem intimidating or unflattering, but they're actually neither—as long as you keep a few things in mind:

1. Choose the right shoes.

Anything that stops between the knee and the ankle has the potential to send your legs straight to Stubsville, so avoid that travesty by wearing shoes that show off your dainty little ankles. Try booties, ankle-strap sandals, or peep-toe starter mules with three-inch heels.

Not in a pervy way. In a nice way. A sleeveless top balances out all the extra volume you've got happening on the bottom. A crop top works too—just be sure the pants are high-waisted. You don't want to look like I Dream of Jeanie.